Kinship by Covenant

A biblical scholar identifies the covenant as an overarching theme among diverse biblical texts While the canonical scriptures were produced over many centuries and represent a diverse library of texts, they are unified by stories of divine covenants and their implications for God’s people. In this deeply researched and thoughtful book, Scott Hahn shows how covenant, as an overarching theme, makes possible a coherent reading of the diverse traditions found within the canonical scriptures.   Biblical covenants, though varied in form and content, all serve the purpose of extending sacred bonds of kinship, Hahn explains. Specifically, divine covenants form and shape a father-son bond between God and the chosen people. Biblical narratives turn on that fact, and biblical theology depends upon it. With meticulous attention to detail, the author demonstrates how divine sonship represents a covenant relationship with God that has been consistent throughout salvation history. A canonical reading of this divine plan reveals an illuminating pattern of promise and fulfillment in both the Old and New Testaments. God’s saving mercies are based upon his sworn commitments, which he keeps even when his people break the covenant.

"This book is the fruit of an immense amount of research in the contemporary study of the Biblical covenant. No one who takes up the challenge to study it, whether scholar or not, will come away from reading it without being more astute in matters human and divine. The thesis of the book is masterly in its basic insight: life lived under Biblical covenant cannot be separated from life lived in relationships dictated by familial terms and ties. It is the family which is central to the Bible’s view of life for the simple reason that the family is central to life itself."—James Swetnam, S. J., Pontifical Biblical Institute"Scott Hahn opens new vistas, chases down old haunts, and leads us to a fuller, deeper, and more penetrating understanding of covenant. Until we get 'covenant' right, we simply don't understand the Bible. When I think of the word 'covenant,' I think of Kinship by Covenant. When I have any questions about 'covenant,' this is the first book I will turn to for ever and a day."—Scot McKnight, North Park University"At last Scott Hahn’s Kinship by Covenant is published! Maintaining a masterful command of the data on biblical and ancient near eastern covenants, the work exposes how, for over a century, biblical scholarship lost sight of the covenant as a kinship-forging ritual. Richly documented, theologically profound, the book will prove an invaluable resource in Old and New Testament study."—Gregory Yuri Glazov, Seton Hall University, Immaculate Conception Seminary"Both well-written and exhaustive, this impressive work will fascinate readers with New Testament truths about God's unyielding covenant with his chosen, fallible people."—David Noel Freedman

Scott W. Hahn holds the Fr. Michael Scanlan Chair of Biblical Theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville. Author or editor of over forty books, he is founder and president of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, and editor-in-chief of Emmaus Academic Publishing.